


when my breath runs cold(i'll be thinking about you)

by The_FlamingTiger



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 07:18:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20653313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_FlamingTiger/pseuds/The_FlamingTiger
Summary: To care: verb 1. feel concern or interest; attach importance to something.Or: in which Blake and Yang talk about how much they care for each other.





	when my breath runs cold(i'll be thinking about you)

"What were you thinking, Yang?" Blake asked, applying ointment to her partner's back. It was covered in purple and blueish bruises. She wondered how in the gods' name the brawler's aura hadn't taken care of that. It had been two days after their outing to get info on the White Fang and Torchwick. After Yang had been punched through a pillar.  
  
"Well... my semblance-"  
  
"No! Don't do that. You're a powerhouse, I got it. The worst part isn't- I don't even know what's the worst part!"  
  
"Blake, listen. It's fine, I'm used to absorbing damage. You don't have to worry about it."  
  
"If it were fine, you wouldn't be in this state. Why didn't you tell us sooner? And why didn't your aura heal this?!"  
  
Yang sighed, her shoulders heaving. Blake felt the strong muscles of her back tensing under her hands. The sunset colors bathed their dorm, illuminating it with an orange-ish light. They were the only ones in the room, since Weiss had dragged Ruby to the library. She said that the leader was slacking off on Grimm Studies. Though it probably wouldn't take the two anywhere, it was nice to see how much Ruby and Weiss grew. They still bickered, but it was mostly friendly.   
  
Being alone gave Blake the opportunity to ask Yang about what she had been seeing. The way she walked like she was in pain. How she avoided letting her back touch any surface. The small grimaces whenever someone touched her there. It seemed to go unnoticed by their other friends, but not by Blake. She worried about the blonde, about how she always threw herself in harm's way. So she decided to have a talk with the brawler, to know what was going on.  
  
And that was what lead them to their current position. Yang was in front of her, shirtless and with her hair thrown over her left shoulder. The part that seemed to have the most serious wounds was the middle of her back. Blake's heart clenched looking at it. She had been avoiding to apply the ointment there, starting with her shoulders. She then moved on to Yang's lower back, massaging softly.  
  
"It didn't get healed because..." the blonde started. "Blake, I have to feel the energy I send back. When I say I absorb the damage, I mean it. If I got to send it back without feeling it, how would I know when to stop? How would I be able to have at least a bit of control over myself?"  
  
Blake blinked, stopping her motions. "Oh..."  
  
"I know I come across as someone who just, y'know, hits stuff and leaves, but... I don't-" Yang sighed again. "I don't wanna hurt anybody without knowing how much damage I am going to cause. That's just cheap."  
  
"Yang..." the faunus let out, breathless. She looked at the middle of the blonde's back and gulped, hesitating. The former White Fang member didn't want to hurt her partner even more. "And why did you keep it from us?"  
  
"When Ruby and I were just children, we... lost someone dear to us." Yang started just as Blake decided to begin applying the medicine to the bruises she'd been avoiding. The brawler flinched and hissed at the pain. It was the first time she reacted like that since the ravenette had started her care.  
  
"S-sorry!" the black haired girl said, her hands going up defensively. She was sent into an unwelcome memory, of her first- and only- time taking care of Adam's wounds. She remembered the way he shouted at her to be more careful with what she was doing. It was after a mission that hadn't gone well. It was just some weeks before she left. He called her useless. Said that if she couldn't tend simple wounds, she would be just a holdback if she were hurt in battle.  
  
"It's okay," Yang chuckled. "I just... I generally don't have people do that. As I was saying, after Ruby and I lost that person, someone had to be the strong one. And that someone happened to be me."   
  
But of course, Yang wasn't him. Yang could never be him.  
  
"What about your dad?"  
  
"It's... complicated." the girl's voice indicated that she didn't want to talk about it. Although wanting to know more about it, the vulnerability behind the statement stopped Blake from pressing. Yang would tell her whenever she was ready to. Some things are more important. Like taking care of her battered partner.  
  
'It is my fault, after all.' she thought. 'I dragged them into a fight that is mine. I-'  
  
"Hey, you okay?" Yang asked, turning her head to look at the other. Purple and yellow locked, not breaking the intimate connection established by their eyes.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You suddenly went all quiet and... I don't know. Whenever you're lost in your thoughts, I get a feeling that you're not okay. Like something's pulling you away."  
  
Blake clenched her jaw and tears stung her eyes. How could someone care for her so openly and so deeply? How could Yang worry for her when she was the one who was hurt? And worse: Blake was the reason why she got hurt in the first place. Why wasn't the blonde yelling at her? Why wasn't she pointing it out?  
  
Not knowing what to do, the ravenette leaned forward, resting her forehead on her partner's right shoulder. She put her hands on the brawler's arms, feeling the hot skin under her cold one. She held back the tears and the sob that were about to leave her. She felt like she didn't have the right to cry. 'It's my fault,' Blake thought. 'All of this is my fault.'  
  
"Blake-"  
  
"Please," the faunus let out, choking on the word. "Yang, I... I _care_ about you. Seeing you get hurt like this... I know it is in who you are, but I don't think I could... I don't want to lose you." Blake knew that she shouldn't be so selfish, but she needed to let Yang know that she cares, too. Only the gods know how much she cares...  
  
Yang touched Blake's left hand with her right one. She ran her calloused fingers through the shorter girl's hand, caressing it softly. "No matter what happens, I'll get back up. I'll be there for you, and you'll be there for me. We're partners, Blake, and there's no way in Remnant that I'll let something destroy that."  
  
Yang turned around to look at her partner. The moon was rising now, bathing Blake in a silvery light. The tears were pooled in her golden eyes, making the blonde feel the urge to hug her. She contented herself with putting both hands on each of Blake's arms. The last thing Yang wanted was to make the other girl uncomfortable. She still wanted to lessen her pain, though.  
  
"You don't have to be the strong one all the time, Yang." Blake said, hands clenched on her thighs. "You can trust me."  
  
"Okay." Yang smiled softly, reassuringly. "We'll take care of each other."  
  
Blake nodded, smiling back. 'And I'll stop the White Fang. No matter what happens, none of them is ever hurting you again.'  


* * *

  
  
Blake was sitting on the grass that covered the backyard of the Cotta-Arc family's home. She stared at the sky, a long sigh leaving her mouth. The shattered moon was only a reminder of the discoveries from the past few days. The thought of going into a war of this dimension without a plan scared her to no end. Just thinking about what could happen, the people she could lose... it absolutely terrified her. She did trust Ruby, and would follow her leader to the end of the world. But...  
  
She missed her home. Not Menagerie, though. The home she found in Beacon before the fall. The home she found in seeing Weiss complain about the times Yang scored higher than her on a test. The home she found in waking up to Ruby's cheerful smile. The home she found in having Yang's bright grins and Yang's laugh and Yang's _happiness_. Gods, she even missed the blonde's snore in the bed above hers.  
  
Blake sighed at the thought of her partner, clenching her eyes closed. She gulped, a lump forming in her throat and tears stinging her eyes. There was so much that felt out of place. So much the ravenette felt that she needed to fix. The last one was what happened in the Brunswick farm. She was pretty sure that Yang's reaction to her saying she would protect her was partly influenced by the Apathy. It still made her wonder why it affected the brawler so much, though.  
  
She never wanted to hurt Yang, but no matter what she did, it always seemed like that's all she does. No matter how hard she tries, all her actions leads to someone dear to her getting hurt. Perhaps that was karma for all the suffering she'd caused in her years with the White Fang. Those thoughts made her bring her knees to her chest, hugging them. Blake stared into the distance, drowning in her misery and letting some tears fall.  
  
Some minutes passed before her cat ears captured the sound of wood creaking behind her. It would have gone unnoticed, had she not been a cat faunus with ears as her heritage. It was a step she could recognize anywhere, and Blake immediately got up. The young woman cleaned the residual tears, not wanting her partner to see them. She looked at Yang, who stared at her with shock and a bit of disappointment.  
  
"Aw, man, I thought I was being stealthy." Yang pouted. Blake blinked and then giggled, her voice rough.  
  
"Can't sneak up on a cat faunus, Xiao Long." the black haired woman teased, twitching her ears. Yang laughed softly and walked toward her partner.  
  
"Guess I can't." the brawler sat on the edge of the wooden floor. Blake stared at her for some moments, and Yang just sighed and patted on the spot beside her. "Take a seat, Blake."  
  
Blake nodded far too desperately and rushed to sit by the blonde's side. She had her eyes on the side of the taller woman's face. Yang Xiao Long was an absolute masterpiece. Her purple eyes, her pink and soft looking lips, her sculpted jawline, her luscious golden hair... everything. Everything about her was gorgeous. Not to mention how intelligent and strong and awesome she is. Blake could bet that Yang was a goddess if she didn't know any better.  
  
Maybe Yang was the sun. That would make a lot of sense.  
  
"Nice night, don't you think?" Yang said, eyes on the sky. The moonlight hit her face, giving her features a silvery appearance. She looked like an alive sculpture, built for the world to worship and praise.  
  
"It is beautiful." Blake responded, exhaling a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Magnificent."  
  
Yang looked at her, eyes locked in hers. There was adoration there, and a small smile formed in her lips. "Yeah."  
  
Blake bit her tongue, trying not to say something that would compromise the comfortable atmosphere. "So... it's you and me tomorrow, right?"  
  
Yang gulped and nodded, stare moving back to the sky. "It is. You and me," her voice was distant, as though she were out of the world. Blake felt her body grow cold, her heart clenching and freezing. Perhaps...  
  
"It's okay if you don't-" her voice caught in her throat, shaky. Her gaze dropped to the grass as she played with her fingers nervously. "If you don't want to come with me. I-I have dealt with this kind of thing before so..."  
  
"No!" Yang said, clearly a tad bit louder than she intended. Blake looked up, startled, and gasped at the desperation in her partner's eyes. "S-sorry. I just..." the blonde sighed. "I shouldn't have shouted. Sorry."  
  
"It's... fine."  
  
"What I meant to say is... I do wanna go with you. It just... it reminds me of the old times. Y'know, at Beacon. When we did stuff together and everything was great and..." Yang involuntarily looked at her prosthetic. Blake's eyes followed hers, a lump forming in her throat. "And we didn't have the weight of the world on our shoulders. I remember saying I wanted to go around the world, helping people while getting as many adventures as I could. I thought that that could be my freedom."  
  
"Yang..."  
  
"Now we're all tied to this war. I get the adventure, the thrill of never knowing what tomorrow may bring, but... what was the cost?" Yang looked up, drowning Blake in her amethyst pools. "What was the cost...?"  
  
Blake sobbed against her will, and Yang instinctively pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This is all- I-I am sorry, Yang. I-"  
  
"Shhh. It isn't. None of it is your fault."  
  
"B-but it is! If only I had been more careful, I should-"  
  
"If only you had stayed." Yang said softly. She caressed the faunus' hair softly. "But you didn't, Blake. For the longest time, I wondered why."  
  
"I wanted-"  
  
"-to protect me. It wasn't hard to figure out after I got to put some more thought into it." Blake stopped speaking, stopped trying to excuse her actions. Her sobs got lost in the backyard, no echo coming back. "It's in the past now, though. Blake, you can't keep burdening yourself. Not everything bad that happens in our lives is your fault. We take our own steps. I chose to save you that night. I would choose it all over again."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I do remember telling you that we would take care of each other."  
  
And then it clicked. The reason why Yang didn't react well when she said that she would protect her. She didn't want Blake to take care of her and be overprotective of her. She wanted to be her equal, she wanted to stand beside her and take pride in knowing that they were one. She wanted the be there for Blake and to fight _beside her_, and not _behind her_. Yang didn't want to be protected with no return. She wanted them to face their fears _together_.  
  
Blake nuzzled her head on the other's broad shoulder. She nodded and sighed, finally feeling a bit of relief. The weight on her shoulders seemed to lift a bit, and her anxiety dropped a little. Yang had this power and this way of making her feel warm and safe, no matter what. It was unexplainable, but Blake still adored it.  
  
"I have never hated a type of Grimm as much as I hate the Apathy." Yang spoke after a few minutes. "I hate the way it makes you feel. I still can't believe... Blake, you almost died." her hold tightened, and Blake knew that she was holding back her tears. "I... I saw you there, motionless as they... as their claws got near you. And I couldn't- I didn't do _anything_. You almost died, and all I could do was stare."  
  
"I find it weird, how they work. I don't think death has ever truly scared me, but it's not like I don't care about my life. I... the feeling of being so close and, you know, just believing it's fine. It's weird."  
  
"It terrifies me. Gods, Blake, the thought that you could be gone now... the thought that, in that moment, I wouldn't have cared..." Yang blinked, holding the tears back. "I care so much that I can't even put it in words. Blake, I care about you. I can't lose you. Not again."  
  
"You never lost me, Yang. My heart was with you that whole time, and so was my mind."  
  
"Blake..." it came under her breath, and she pulled away. Yang looked Blake in the eyes, searching for any sign of insincerity. Instead, she found an emotion and a vulnerability she'd never seen there. The blonde couldn't quite tell what it was, but seemingly it meant that Blake was baring her heart to her. "Never forget of how much I care. Please."  
  
"I won't."  
  
"Never, even for a minute, think that I wouldn't miss you."  
  
"Okay." Blake smiled and cupped her cheek. She brushed away a tear that the blonde didn't know she'd let escape. "And I promise I'll never leave you again. You're stuck with me."  
  
"Good." Yang grinned. "This... this sounds good. Great, actually." she let out a laugh after a few seconds. "Look at us, we're such messes."  
  
Blake chuckled. "We truly are."  
  
"So uh... wanna head in? We have to steal Atlas property tomorrow, can't have you all tired. Imagine the disrespect, if you missed the party." the blonde joked and got a full laugh from her partner. Her chest swelled with pride, and her smile grew.  
  
"Sure. Let's go."  
  
The two stood up and walked back in, shoulder to shoulder. They had small smiles in their lips, feeling a lot lighter. Blake found her freedom with Yang, she found safety and care. She knew that she would always miss Beacon, but as long as had Yang by her side, she would be home.


End file.
